Operating handle



March-1o, 1925. 1528928 R.KAUCH ETAL OPERATING HANDLE Filed Aug. 7. 1923 LNVENTOR ROBERT KHz/6H. BY 3H/1mm L. Paz/ws.

ATTORNEY ings, a casing 1 is constructed as a curved Patented Mar. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT CFF ICE.

OPERATING HANDLE.

Application filed August 7, 1923. Serial 170.656.251.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be 1t known that we, ROBERT KAUGH and .CHARLES LnrGH PAULUs. citizens of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Operating Handles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an operating handle for the remote control of any releasing or operating mechanism. The invention is particularly adaptable for the release of fiaresor bombs from an airplane.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a release handle for the release of iiares or bombs in an airplane which will provide a convenient mounting for the release mechanism so that it can be ascertained immediately, either by the operators Sense of touch or sense of sight, whether or not the flare or bomb in question has been released.

A further object is to provide a device of this character with a handle maintained in a fixed predetermined position so' that it may be located without the necessity of groping in an unilluminated cockpit.

Further objects will be more fully set forth in attached specification and claims and in the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a release handle mounting,

Fig. 2 is a section of the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawtube preferably7 formed of metal, and at'its lower end is threaded within a cylindrical casting 2. Extending to the center of the casing 1 and the casting 2 is a cable 3, which extends to the device to be operated, so that when the cable is pulled if the cable extends to a flare or a bomb, these objects will be released from the aircraft. To the upper end of cables 3 is attached a handle designated generally by the numeral 4, which is constructed of a hand bar 5 rigidly attached to an end piece 6. A suitable cross pin or soldered connection attaches the cable 3 to this end piece 6.

The end of the casing 1 is provided with an end piece 7, which is rigidly attached thereto and which is provided with a circular aperture through which the cable may freely pass. The end pieces 6 and 7 are maintained, pressing against each other by means of a spring 8, which bears against the end piece 7 of the upper'end of the casing and at the opposite end of the casing bears against a plunger v9 which is freely movable within the casing 1, and which is suitably sweated or otherwise attached to the cable. The spring will therefore press downwardly upon ther plunger 9 so as to maintain the handle against the end of the casing. The end piece 6 of the handle is provided with a projection 10 extending across the end of the part 6 from side to side, and the end piece 7 ofthe casing is provided with a groove 11 of a similar size and nature, so that the projection 10 may iit snugly within this groove when the haiidle is in the position shown in the right hand part of F ig. 1. yA second groove 12 extends across the face of the end piece 7 at right angles to the groove 11, so that if .the handle is pulled outwardly and then rotated to 90 in any direction, the projection 10 will engage the groove 12 instead of the groove 11, and the cable will maintain this projection in either of these grooves according to the adjusted position ofthe handle.

As bombs or flares areusually provided in pairs upon an airplane, we provide a mounting plate 13 which is adaptable to support a pair of these release handles as just described. This plate is formed vof a sheet of metal provided with a surface 14 and the l surface 16 opposite from the surface 14, both of these surfaces extending vertically and being adapted to be attached to the ver tical side of the fuselage cockpit bv means of bolt holes 17. The part 15 of the sheet 13 interconnects the surfaces 14 and 16 and provides an upwardly Haring opening to allow forV the curvature in the casing land so as to support this casing 1 near the upper end of the'sheet 13. The sheet 13 is attached at its lower end to the cylindrical members 2 from which the casing 1 of each of the release handles is supported.

The operation of the device is as follows: The two handles 5 and 5 are adjusted so that they are both pointing forwardly in the position shown in the right'hand side of Fig. 1. The other ends of the cables are attached to the Hares or the bombs of the airplane. The position of the hand bars 5 as just indicated is the armed position and in this position it will be clearly understood that since the mounting plate 13 is mounted on the side of the fuselage to the right or left of the pilot, the handles will be in the position which will most likely be encountered by his hand When he is feeling for it. His lingers will naturally close around an object in this position. He can tell immediately from the position of the bar 5 that the particular device controlled thereby has not been operated. This may be ascertained either by the operators sense of sight or by sense of touch. The flare or bomb is operated by a pull from the handle which compresses the spring as the plug` 9 is drawn upwardly with the cable. Such a pull upon the handle releases the projection l0 from the notch ll and permits free rotational movements of the handle. ln order to indicate that the flare or other device which is attached to the particular handle operated, has been released after` pulling upon the handle, the operator rotates the saine to 90 before releasing` it, so that the handle assumes the position aftervits release, as shown in the left of Fig. l. ln this position it is clear that when the pilot is groping for it in the dark or Without looking in that direction, his lingers will be more liable to miss the handle, since the bar Z will quite readily pass in between his lingers. rlhe operator in groping for one of the handles in order to release a flare, naturally Wishes to encounter a handle attached to a live or unreleased lare, and is desirous of missing the handles Which have been attached to the released flares. `When the handle is released after operating` a flare and after finding it, the projection l0 seats itself Within the second groove l2 and the handle is thereby maintained in this second position by both the kgroove and the spring attached to ythe cable holding` ,the projection vithin the groove.

le claim:

l. An operating` handle of the class described, comprising a mounting casing, a control cable, a handle fixed to one end of the cable, a spring` attached to said cable, so as to urge the cable in one direction along said casing, an end piece for said casing, an end piece for said handle, a notch in one of said pieces, and a projection in the other piece, so as to maintain said handle and casing in predetermined adjusted relation.

2. An operating handle as set forth in claim l, said handle being substantially T shaped.

3. An operating handle as set forth in claim l, said casing being formed of an elongated bent tube and a. support for said tube.

4. An operating handle as set forth in claim l, said casing being formed of an elongated bent tube, and a support for said tube comprising a metal sheet provided with a plurality of surfaces in the same plane, said sheet being offset between said surfaces to provide a space for said tube.

5. An operating handle as set forth in claim l, said handle being T shaped and said notch and projection being so related as to maintain said handle in a predetermined position, so that the handle may operate said control cable and be manually rotated to a different position to permit the operator to observe whether or not the handle has been operated.

6. An operating handle for releasing` ar.- licles from an aircraft, comprising a mounting` casing, a control cable, a T shaped hait elle fixed to one end of the cable, a spring attached to said cable so as to urge theI same in one direct-ion along said casing, means for maintaining said handle in a predetermined position, means permitting said handle to be pulled to operate said control cable and to be rotated so that when released it assumes a different position at substantially 90 from its former position.

7. An operating handle for releasing` articles from an aircraft, comprising a mountw ing casing, a control cable, a handle lined to one end of the cable, a spring attached to said cable so as to urge said cable through said casing, means for maintaining said handle in a predetermined position, and means for attaching said tube to a vertical support so said handle extends angularly out from said vertical support in a predetermined position.

In testimony whereof We a'IliX our signatures.

RGBEBT KAUCH. CHARLES L. PAULUS. 

